Shaun White: Blaze
by littlehandshaketramp
Summary: Emery had it rough. Supporting her family with a job at the park wasn't enough. She needed something to help her believe that there was good in the world. There was no way that "something" could be the rich boy with the fiery curls, right?
1. Chapter 1: Turn It Off

**Turn It Off**

I was at a loss for words. My mouth hung open dumbly as I struggled to search for words that were inevitably out of reach in my mind. This place was a wreck. I barely even had time to shut the front door before I heard a loud thud come from the back of the house. The air in here seemed dead. It made me worry. Angrily, I threw my backpack down on the floor.

_Great. This again._

Using my feet to kick and shove clutter and junk that spread across our ugly, stained, living room carpet, I made a pathway to the hall. I made my way to the end of it carefully, stopping silently at the half- open bathroom door. It was practically begging to be opened the rest of the way. So that's what I did.

I had heard the faucet dripping ominous beads minutes before, assuming the culprit was a leak. Hot moisture hung dense in the air, choking my already uneven breath. Squeezing my eyes shut, I jerked the sickly pale green colored shower curtain away.

Hearing nothing but the steady drip of the faucet and my own breathing, I was almost certain it was okay to open my eyes. Boy, was I wrong.

A gasp unconsciously escaped my lips. There laid my mother, her head resting awkwardly on the opposite end of the tub on the edge. It was filled halfway with still, clear water. Sitting about a foot away from her head were bottles of her favorite poisons: blueberry vodka and her pills. I couldn't bring myself to even begin to wonder why she seemed to love to hurt herself like this. She refused help. She got angry, livid even, if you attempted to get rid of her precious poison. She loved them. They hated her.

"Mom. Mom, come on. You have to get up now."

I tried to sound strong and stern, hoping it would rouse her from this sleep. If that was even what you would call it. In reality, I felt about as strong as a speck of dust. Laying a trembling hand on her naked shoulder, I shook her gently.

"Wake up, Mom. Please.", I begged. Nothing. I shook her harder this time and begged again, louder. A few moments later, her hazy brown eyes lifted sluggishly. I hooked my arm under hers, pulling her frail body up with little to no help from her.

"It's time for bed now, okay? It's nearly midnight.", I said eager to get some sort of response out of her. To hear her speak. At least for the sake of knowing she could hear me. A grunt was all I got, which was better than nothing. I began to lug her closer to the door when she clumsily took a dive to the linoleum, spewing her rainbow insides into the toilet.

I hurriedly retrieved a towel to cover her bare body. Standing beside her as she finished, I noticed the angry red whelp beginning to form on her temple. I choked back the tangible sadness that was stinging my big green eyes. She was so thin that it hurt me. Nearly all of the spokes of her spine jutted out under her paling, nearly translucent ivory skin.

She just sat there on her knees with her gaze locked forward, focused on nothing. I took a damp rag and dabbed the trickle of vomit on her bottom lip. I helped her up, gently cloaking her in a towel. I flushed the sickness down the toilet and sighed heavily.

_This has got to stop._

Within half an hour I managed to get her cleaned up and dressed and into her empty bed. Dad was out again, which was nothing new. He normally didn't come home until the sun was starting to come up if he came home at all when he went "out".

I trudged into Noah's room, exhausted. There was no way I was sleeping in my room tonight. It was too far away from Mom's room in case she needed me during the night. He was sleeping soundly on his stomach sprawled out with one uncovered leg dangling off the edge of the bed. No room for me. I crouched down to pull out the extra covers from under the bed. I curled up after making a pallet in the floor, making a makeshift pillow out of a rolled up winter hoodie of his.

I hadn't even bothered to change out of my work shirt and my jean shorts. I hugged my knees close to my body as I struggled to restrain the lump in my throat that was threatening me with loud sobs. Once I couldn't hold it in anymore, I surrendered to the tears dripping down my face, but not the loud sobs that usually accompanied them. I had taught myself to cry as silently as possible to keep from waking Noah on nights like this. _Maybe I wasn't meant to be happy._

_Maybe I was cursed. _

I need something to hold on to. But things like that seem to avoid me.

I squeezed my eyes shut in sad anger.

_Why did my life have to be like this?_

I pulled the covers over my throbbing head. That was the last thing I remembered before I drifted into a very welcome sleep.

* * *

><p>Sorry it's so short. Next chapter is longer and less depressing, I promise. :]<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Bounce

**Bounce**

The bright rays stung my morning eyes. They ached as I fumbled around to grab my sunglasses out of my sea-blue backpack. Upon finding them, I discovered a red, sticky mess in the zipper pocket on front. I had snuck a few cherry candies from the concession stand for Noah; they were his favorite. The blistering California heat had melted them. "Nice way to start the day.", I grumbled, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I put on my shades and pushed my straight, chestnut-colored hair behind my ears.

I headed over to the splash pad by the concession stand. I was scheduled to work from 9 to12 there, then from 12:30 to 4 at the concession stand. After that, I was free to go. Yes, I hated this job, but it was necessary. Neither of my parents worked, but Mom got money sent to her monthly by her mother in Nebraska. She usually blew it as soon as it hit the bank on booze and extra pills though. So, I had to have this job to make sure Noah and I had food and clothes, pretty much. Dad stayed gone. Mom stayed messed up. That was my life.

I usually worked from open to close, but the only reason I got off early is because the skate section of the park (which is where I worked after 4) was being added on to. One new ramp. So they closed down the entire skating vicinity. How dumb. The only people who ever skated anyway were snot-nosed kids and older, obnoxious punks. Whoever came up with the idea of flying around on a tiny board on wheels was an idiot with a death wish and too much free time.

After my first shift had ended, I made my way to the concession stand to begin shift number two. This was the hottest part of the day, so I was thankful to be inside with a large fan. The radio wasn't too shabby either, even though it wouldn't exactly cure my boredom when business got slow. After about 45 minutes of a steady flow of thirty-something mothers and their sweaty, red-faced, hungry children, business got really slow. I hadn't had a single customer in about 15 minutes, so I turned away from the window and directed my attention to the radio.

"Hey, lady!"

My head snapped back. I guess I was too caught up in the sickeningly poppy tune invading the airwaves to even hear the two unfamiliar boys approach the window.

"What can I get you two?", I asked. I was already annoyed by the first loudmouth who let out an "Uh…." that seemed to draw on for ages. His friend stepped in front of him to order. It didn't seem like Loudmouth was going to any time soon.

I couldn't believe I hadn't already noticed this guy. His hair hung a couple of inches down his shoulders in perfectly unkempt fiery ringlets. He was lean, but muscular. His skin was pale and lined with freckles, especially on his arms and legs. His clothes were unusually nice for someone visiting the park. "I'll take a water, please. Oh, and his is on me.", he requested politely. His annoying friend shoved his way to the front.

"And I'll take nachos with lots of jalapenos! And a Dr. Pepper too."

He turned back to the redhead.

"You don't want any food? I'm starved, dude!", he clutched his stomach.

"Nah, man. I'm good.", he replied, shaking his head.

I just stared for a second. When I'd came back from my short daze, I told them it was four dollars even. I watched intently as the redhead reached into a fat wallet boasting multiple fifties and hundreds. After digging for a moment, he sheepishly handed me a fifty.

"Sorry, that's the smallest I've got.", he apologized, shrugging and running a hand through the red mess on his head.

_**Stupid rich kid, making me get all this change.**_

Now that I thought about it, his friend didn't look exactly poor either. He was wearing a shiny, expensive-looking watch with what appeared to be diamonds lining the face of the clock. His clothes were crisp, name-brand skinny jeans and a v-neck shirt with a tiny pocket. The redhead was sporting similar apparel, except his shirt had no sleeves and his jeans were gray and cut off right above the knee, showing off his toned legs. You could tell he bought them like that though. He didn't have a priceless watch hanging on his skinny wrist, but he did have a silver band with a large turquoise stone perched on top circling his pinky finger. He also had a shiny pair of Ray-Bans covering his eyes.

After returning all his change and bringing out their orders, they began to walk off.

"Thanks!", he called back a few feet away from the stand, revealing an obnoxiously white, toothy, but at the same time, nice smile.

"Sure.", I grumbled. The loud one turned around and yelled "Cheer up, dude. Life doesn't suck that bad."

I stared at my feet while tugging at the bottom of my shorts angrily.

_**Idiot rich boys. **_

They didn't know what my life was like. To live in a hell everyday. Rich people had it so easy. They got all their parents' money, and usually the parents couldn't care less about what it was spent on. Wild parties. Carefree summer nights. Nice hair. Nice clothes. Nice cars. Nothing to worry about. Anything they wanted. That was the life I'd never have, but wanted so badly. I envied them. I was lucky to get an "I love you, Emery." out of anyone in my family besides Noah for months at a time.

I watched the two boys from the stand for a moment, fuming. I studied how girls stared at them, like it was mating season and they were lonely deer or something. I guarantee, if they looked like the average guys here, or if they didn't have that candy-red sports car waiting on them in the parking lot, they wouldn't attract half that attention.

I tried to look away as two gorgeous blonde girls with their cleavage out to greet the world scurried up to them, starting up a flirty conversation with the loud one. The redhead just looked away and sipped his water, ignoring them.

"…and this is my buddy, Shaun.", his friend said, gesturing to him. He waved, uninterested.

Shaun. That was the redhead's name.

_**I wish I knew what it was like to live like them.**_

_**Like that would ever happen.**_


End file.
